Education Programs
The Student Matinee Series
In September and October, APT holds 15 performances of regular-season, main stage productions, performed during the school day at our beautiful outdoor theater. And for the first time in 2009, APT will offer 4 additional Student Matinee performances in the new indoor Touchstone Theatre. Teachers receive study guides to accompany the performances that include activities and resources specific to the play. Most performances are followed by discussions between students and actors. In 2009, we will perform Student Matinees of The Comedy of Errors , The Winter's Tale and King Henry V outdoors, and In Acting Shakespeare and Long Day's Journey Into Night in the Touchstone.
Also, APT offers special discounts to student groups of 15 or more for select regular evening performances throughout the season.
For more information on student discounts and the Student Matinee Series, call the Box Office at (608) 588-2361 or e-mail education@americanplayers.org.
The Potency of Poetry
The Potency of Poetry is a groundbreaking new education program from American Players Theatre that invites students to confront language and discover what it has to offer them. This program goes beyond “decoding” language to make it personal, purposeful, provocative and entertaining for the students. It is a dramatic experience that allows them to explore the printed word’s total range of possibilities.
The program is led by a specially trained teaching artist, a professional APT actor whose performance can make words come alive for students in ways they never thought possible.
For more information on the Potency of Poetry, click here.
For the complete list of curriculum standards met by PoP, click here.
Workshops
To accompany Student Matinee performances, APT offers workshops in individual classrooms led by teams of two APT teaching artists. These 45-minute workshops introduce students to the play and use various techniques to make story, language, character and theme vivid and accessible to the students. Teachers are able to select from several workshop formats to optimize their students’ experience. A number of workshops are sponsored through grant funds and available free of charge to school groups. For more information, call the Box Office at (608) 588-2361 or e-mail education@americanplayers.org.
Residencies
In addition to the activities based around our season, APT also offers a host of other workshops and residencies available in the classroom. In addition to Shakespeare programs, we offer Potency of Poetry - a program focused specifically on language and poetry - as well as creative dramatics and general theater offerings. Each of these offerings can be custom-designed to enrich your classroom.
Click here to download a copy of our brochure outlining all the possibilities.
APT A.C.T. (Acting for Classical Theater) Camp
If you are a student aged 13-17 looking for a theater summer camp experience, American Players Theatre A.C.T. Camp might be the place for you. This one-week program brings together a motivated group of students and allows them to participate in a wide range of theater and camp activities. Camp offerings include:
- Workshops led by APT acting company members along with other APT artistic and camp staff. Workshops include text work, movement, voice, audition skills and team building.
- Attend five APT productions.
- Work with staff directors daily as actors on a performance piece.
- Take advantage of this chance to learn and become friends with others who care deeply about theater and the arts.
- Have fun with theater games and explore some of the 500 acres of your home for the week, Bethel Horizons camp. Located at nearby Dodgeville, Wisconsin.
Campers will be expected to work hard and participate fully in all sessions. The cost of the camp includes room and board at Bethel Horizons and show tickets to APT. The camp dates are Sunday, August 16 through Friday, August 21, 2009. The cost is $750, and the application deadline is June 20, 2009.
We hope you consider joining us for our tenth summer edition of APT ACT Camp!
At Bethel Horizons, located ten miles from APT, campers will stay at the beautiful Prairie Center with an experienced onsite staff. If you are interested please contact Kathy Hiteman at outreach@americanplayers.org.
